by Jada F. Smith
According to a report by The Washington Post, there is a silver lining to the economic downturn that has crippled much of the country for the past three years. Analysts say families are making serious headway when it comes to climbing out of debt and establishing or boosting their savings.
The Post reports, “Compared with the summer of 2008, when consumer debt peaked, Americans now have 7 percent less mortgage debt, 12 percent less in auto loans and 15 percent less credit card debt, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Loan payments last year were at their lowest level in a decade.”
Well! What we have here is one of those rare double silver linings: It seems we’ve also learned something from the recession! Borrowing and spending more than we could afford – bad. Paying down debt and increasing savings – good. The report goes on to say that Americans are saving at nearly triple the rate they did between 2007 and 2009, setting aside 5.3 percent of their disposable income in December.
Slowly but surely, regular people are getting their financial acts together, which can in turn help improve the economy overall. But of course, the ever analyzing analysts still have concerns and caution against too much optimism. “A major question now is how much longer Americans will continue to pare their debt and rebuild their savings. The answer depends on where debt loads and savings rates will ultimately settle,” the report says.
Read More: Climbing Out of Debt, Americans Are Saving More
Posted By: DAVID JOHNSON
Wednesday, February 16th 2011 at 11:10PM
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